NASPI’s recent Sensor Data as a Service: Part 2 webinar explored how utilities can access and use high-resolution grid data without needing to own and manage every part of the monitoring infrastructure themselves.
The session featured Theo Laughner from Lifescale Analytics and Diego Rodriguez, Technical Solutions Lead at Reactive Technologies. Theo discussed large-scale power-quality sensor networks, while Diego focused on high-resolution, time-synchronised measurements for understanding increasingly complex power-system dynamics.
Traditional monitoring architectures are becoming difficult to scale
Diego began by outlining the limitations of monitoring systems that have developed incrementally over time. Data is often divided between different vendors, applications and infrastructure, making system-wide analysis difficult and creating an increasing operational burden.
This becomes more challenging as data volumes grow and utilities face constrained budgets, ageing infrastructure and limited specialist resources.
Sensor Data as a Service provides an alternative. Rather than building and maintaining every sensor network, data pipeline and analytical environment internally, utilities can access measurement data and analytics through a managed service.
The data can also be used across planning, operations, engineering and compliance rather than remaining tied to a single application.
PMUs remain essential, but they do not provide complete frequency visibility
A key point in Diego’s presentation was that higher-resolution waveform measurement can complement established monitoring.
PMUs remain effective for observing traditional electromechanical and inter-area oscillations. However, their filtering, estimation methods and reporting rates are designed for particular measurement objectives.
As inverter-based resources, data centres and other power-electronic systems become more prevalent, relevant behaviour can occur at higher frequencies. Some faster oscillations may therefore be attenuated, aliased or fall outside the effective visibility of conventional synchrophasor monitoring.
Higher-speed waveform measurements can provide additional detail on these higher-frequency oscillations and associated harmonic behaviour.
Repeated patterns can distinguish system behaviour from noise
Diego presented an example in which oscillatory events repeatedly appeared around a similar frequency and period of the day. Many of the events were relatively small, but they were also lightly damped and showed consistent patterns.
The recurring pattern helped distinguish consistent system behaviour from isolated or random events and provided a basis for investigating the operating conditions under which it appeared. By comparing frequency, damping, duration and time of occurrence, the analysis helped build a clearer picture of when the behaviour emerged and how consistently it reappeared.
This illustrates how continuous measurement can support earlier identification and more informed investigation of recurring grid dynamics.
Sensor Data as a Service requires a scalable data architecture
High-resolution measurement creates significant data volumes. Diego explained that transferring and storing every waveform centrally is not always practical.
A scalable approach combines existing monitoring infrastructure with additional high-speed waveform measurements, edge-processing capabilities, and cloud-based analytics designed to handle large volumes of data. Relevant events and characteristics can be identified close to the point of measurement, while selected data is securely transferred for central analysis.
Reactive Technologies applies this model by rapidly deploying high-resolution, time-synchronised sensors with on board edge processing and delivering the resulting measurements and analytics as a managed service enriching the solution with PMU data integration where appropriate. This gives utilities access to important data insights about grid behaviour without requiring them to build and maintain the full monitoring infrastructure themselves.
To discuss where additional measurement could support your planning or operational priorities, please get in touch with our team.
The webinar recording and presentation materials are available on the NASPI event page.
